Greece: The Burning Question

As Greek protesters fight austerity with arson, will the Greek crisis be the breeding ground for extreme politics? What does Bible prophecy say about the future of Europe?

The contrast could hardly have been more surreal. On Sunday night (Feb. 12), with lawmakers inside the Athens parliament building approving draconian austerity measures designed to prevent their nation from falling into default, protesters outside set fires, hurled petrol bombs, attacked police with rocks, and damaged properties.

The riots reportedly left at least 106 police officers and dozens of civilians injured and led to the arrests of some 74 people. More than 45 buildings were damaged by fire, and others were looted.

Teetering on the edge

Greece is teetering on the edge of default, with 14.5 billion euros in debt repayments due next month and the nation struggling to meet its obligations. Failure to repay would trigger a huge crisis, both for Greece and for the eurozone in general.

So the parliament approved a package of painful cuts in government spending designed to reduce Greece’s national debt from the current 160 percent of GDP to 120 percent by the end of this decade.

These cuts include a reduction in the minimum wage from 751 euros ($989) to 600 euros ($790) per month, cuts in state-funded pensions, layoffs of some 15,000 government employees by the end of 2012, cuts in pay to hospital doctors and for medicines, and a 300 million euro ($395 million) cut in military spending.

An overhaul of the tax system and a crackdown on tax evasion (all too common in Greece) were also among the painful measures approved by parliamentarians in the midst of the riots. The consequences of these measures are expected to be painful and long-lasting.

Blaming Germany

In the meantime, resentments intensify. Many Greeks now are beginning to blame eurozone economic kingpin Germany for their sufferings; while some in the creditor nations, such as the Netherlands, Finland, France and Germany, are questioning whether they are simply throwing good money after bad.

In the words of Financial Times columnist Wolfgang Münchau, “In some northern European capitals, policymakers … have lost trust in Greek politics. As we enter year five of a depression, and the certainty that Greek gross domestic product will fall further under the influence of austerity, they are on the verge of giving up on Greece” (“Why Greece and Portugal Ought to Be Allowed to Go Bankrupt,” Feb. 13, 2012).

Will the austerity measures work?

How long will this Greek remedy last? Will it stick? Will the eurozone cough up the latest package of aid, some 130 billion euros ($171 billion)? And, even if it does, will this provide a long-term solution to Greece’s problems and its need for economic restructuring and retooling?

In the words of another Financial Times column, “Either Greece agrees to everything its creditors demand, gets its €130bn of aid, makes its March 20 bond payment, avoids a disorderly default and lives to die another day. Or it does none of those things, fails to make the €14.5bn repayment, and tumbles into default, triggering the excruciating process of leaving the eurozone” (“The Lex Column,” Feb. 13, 2012).

Whatever the case, the consequences for Greek economic stability aren’t good, and the pain is sure to continue.

Breeding extreme politics?

One of the great lessons of history is that economic instability often leads to political instability and to a turn to extreme policies.

Another perceptive opinion piece reminds us of that fact: “What the politics of extreme austerity does is to offer the ideal excuse—the perfect cover—for the further breeding of extremism. It looks as if public opinion in Greece can tolerate the continuous and widespread destruction of central Athens, but would not accept any police or state action that would contain those few extremist groups that cause mayhem. … What many don’t see is that Greece has now reached the other extreme, in which the lack of law and order hurts those who need it the most” (Roman Gerodimos, “Extreme Austerity Breeds Extreme Politics,” Feb. 13, 2012).

Bible prophecies of end-time Europe

Indeed, we need to be on the lookout for a turn to extreme politics, not only in Greece, but in the European Union generally.

Bible prophecy foretells extreme political developments in the heart of Europe. In Daniel 2 we read a prophecy of a succession of powerful kingdoms, beginning with Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylonian empire and culminating in the fourth kingdom, a revival of the Roman system, which will be on the scene and governing prior to the return of Jesus Christ. It seems this will not go into place via European democratic gradualism; rather it looks like a voluntary yielding to dictatorship (Revelation 17:12-13), perhaps in the midst of crisis.

This last kingdom is described as being divided between strong and weak nations (Daniel 2:41-43). Interestingly, the return of the Messiah is prophesied to destroy not only this powerful last revival of the Roman Empire (Revelation 17:12-14; 19:19-21), but also remaining vestiges of the three earlier kingdoms, the third of which was the historic Greek empire.

God’s Kingdom will come!

But we don’t have to be taken by surprise by this. Just as Daniel foretold future events to King Nebuchadnezzar, so we can know what the future holds.

Here’s what Daniel was inspired to foretell: “In the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron [Rome], the bronze [Greece], the clay, the silver, and the gold—the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure” (Daniel 2:44-45).

Ralph Levy is a minister of the Church of God, a Worldwide Association, who grew up in England and now lives in the United States. Dr. Levy enjoys reading, travel and foreign languages. He has a Ph.D. in biblical studies and has worked in foreign language and religious education for much of his life.

For perspective on the Greek crisis and the future of Europe, see:

• Economic Contagion—and Bible Prophecy
• Coming: A United States of Europe!
• Is a “New Europe” on the Horizon?